Des Plaines' nicely revamped sports bar Beacon Tap welcomes a new generation

The Beacon Tap might have been your parents' or even your grandparents' place for hanging out with friends and knocking back a few cold ones. It has been a Lee Street fixture near downtown Des Plaines since 1955, but after a management change and complete overhaul of its interior, the 21st-century version of The Beacon Tap has been serving a new generation of customers for a little more than a year.

Longtime visitors and first-timers walking into this place will quickly notice the log cabin, cozy feel with ample seating at wood-top tables fanning out around the long bar. Illuminated lights hanging from overhead rafters add a patio-lantern party atmosphere. There are enough flat-screen TVs neatly placed around the walls and at the bar to ensure everyone has good sight lines for watching the game, but not so many that you feel like you're hanging out at an appliance superstore.

First impressions of the revamped Beacon: Organized, clean and definitely a place with a casual sports-bar theme that would be welcoming to hang out at for a while.

On a recent Sunday visit with my hungry high school and college-age kids, we specifically got there early to check out something you don't see a lot at sports bars: weekend brunch. As part of its revival, Beacon is looking to expand beyond just being a sports bar and aims to be a family-friendly eatery in addition to a place for watching your favorite teams. Opening for brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends may appeal to those who aren't the brew-hoisting, sports-cheering types.

Once seated at our table, our host may have already been in sports-cheering mode: He shouted a list of specials to the three of us at our table, which was loud enough to spark a rebuke from his manager from across the room to “stop shouting at the customers!” We thought the positive energy was in good fun.

On to the food: Some of Beacon's more interesting brunch dishes on its shareables menu include Trash Can Nachos, featuring brisket ends, jalapeño peppers and nacho cheese sauce. The fried pickles with Cajun remoulade (a creamy, spicy sauce) and Wisconsin cheese curds with dill pickle tartar sauce also tempted.

One of our main courses of the morning was the New Orleans Brennan Eggs, featuring two poached eggs on brioche toast with an optional slice of pit ham, creamed spinach, Monterey Jack cheese and Creole hollandaise sauce. The eggs were perfectly cooked and the golden, runny yolk nicely combined with the toast and accompanying hash brown potatoes.

We also ordered up the brisket skillet, which comes with 14-hour smoked brisket bites folded into a skillet filled with eggs made any way, with hash browns and mustard sauce. The presentation was great, but the brisket bites were a bit on the dry side and I would have liked more of them.

Beacon's Breakfast Pizza also made its way to our table. It's a 12-inch pizza covered in spinach, caramelized onions, bacon and two eggs cooked any way (scrambled for us). Adding a little barbecue sauce drizzle from the many squeeze bottles on our table added a little zing. And the caramelized onions were nice. But overall, it fell a bit short of being a “wow” dish.

Regarding service, although there were only a few other customers around when we placed our orders, we waited about 25 minutes before our dishes finally arrived - minus the appetizer that we ordered at the start. However, our server was very friendly and the focus might have been on the crowd coming in to watch afternoon sports.

For those planning to come for lunch or dinner, Beacon's regular menus feature several types of burgers, sandwiches, salads, pizzas and chili. A couple of notable items include the Beacon Burger, stacked with crispy sriracha onion strings, Merkt's cheddar cheese spread, something called “hot donkey sauce,” along with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle all held together with a garlic-buttered brioche bun. There's also Pinky's Pizza with grilled chicken, artichokes, red onion, pesto and ricotta cheese.

If your sweet tooth still beckons after your entree, you might want to try Beacon's Cookie Skillet, featuring a chocolate chunk cookie with vanilla ice cream. Plus, there's the Sprecher's root beer float and Key lime pie.

Beacon's full-service bar features about a dozen beers on tap along with daily drink specials. Our table was right next to the do-it-yourself Bloody Mary bar, which featured bacon, olives, hot sauces and plenty of other garnishes to complement a tall glass of vodka and tomato juice.

Overall, I give a lot of credit to The Beacon Tap for branching out from its old school bar roots to become a neighborhood gathering spot for all ages. Adding a weekend brunch with creative dishes, along with outdoor seating and activities when the weather is warmer, are strong steps for creating a new “go-to” spot out of an old neighborhood favorite.

The Beacon Tap

1374 Lee St., Des Plaines, (847) 715-2772, thebeacontap.com/

<b>Setting:</b> Casual sports bar

<b>Cuisine:</b> American; lunch, dinner and weekend brunch

<b>Hours:</b> 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday; 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday

<i> Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.</i>